Anybody have any tips on dealing with this cunt of an injury?
Spend as much time out of your shoes as you can. If you haven’t already, pick up a pair of light, flat shoes with little to no heel lift or arch support, and plenty of room for your toes. Chucks, vans, any flat shoe with room, or any shoe aimed at simulating bare feet (Nike Free, Vivo Barefoot, Five Fingers, etc.)
Get a tennis ball and/or baseball and roll under your feet slowly every day, focusing on tender spots with as much weight as you can bear (repeated self-massage of this nature will likely diminish your pain over time and you will be able to massage more vigorously). Also try rolling your calves and peroneals, look for great articles by Tony Gentilcore and Eric Cressey/Mike Robertson on soft tissue work with foam rollers and baseballs.
I’d also recommend you see an ART practioner or a good massage therapist who practices myofascial release and/or trigger point therapy, depending on your financial situation and how bad your feet are hurting.
good advice… progressive rolling beginning with a tennis ball and progressing to a lacrosse ball really helped my plantar fasciitis.
whatever you do, i would stay away from the podiatrist and orthotics. my podiatrist gave me cortisone shots (didn’t help) and orthotics (made the condition worse) as a first line of defense before trying any stretching, rolling, etc. a big waste of money.
fish oil would probably be a good idea too
You might have better luck not posting this in the Supps and Nutrition Forum.
I agree with everything posted so far - including the confusion as to why you are asking here?!
Anyway, i would go with the tennis ball for tissue work… plus build strength with either static, eccentric, concentric movenents or all of the above - and make sure to stretch regularly, use pain as a guide. progress…
I could write a whole article for you but that would kinda put me out of business - but generally follow the advice above (of all posts) and go see a GOOD sports therapist or as mentioned ART practitioner 
You may want to give glucosamine a try, as well as the previously mentioned oils… but really you are going to need real rehab to expedite the healing process.
Brook
[quote] Brook wrote:
I agree with everything posted so far - including the confusion as to why you are asking here?!
Anyway, i would go with the tennis ball for tissue work… plus build strength with either static, eccentric, concentric movenents or all of the above - and make sure to stretch regularly, use pain as a guide. progress…
I could write a whole article for you but that would kinda put me out of business - but generally follow the advice above (of all posts) and go see a GOOD sports therapist or as mentioned ART practitioner
You may want to give glucosamine a try, as well as the previously mentioned oils… but really you are going to need real rehab to expedite the healing process.
Brook[/quote]
The reason I’m posting in this section is because it actually gets read and there is no injury section. I’ve been to the podiatrist and got all the stretching’ rolling ect and have been doing it for a year. I’m going back in 8 weeks. I take fish oil and cla? I need something more advanced. It’s in both feet too.
I would suggest you go to someone who is going to be able to design full rehab protocols for you - your podiatrist may not be quite as competent as some mentioned!
As i said, one of the good sports therapists would be suitable for this - when i was training we did this particular injury, and it is relatively simple - as many injuries are… but the client really needs to devote a point each day to rehab this - and not just 2-3x a week what is most common. And i dont mean some tennis ball rolling while at the PC or watching TV.
That or a chiro maybe - BBB could tell you if they deal with such things.
Osteopaths have some decent practitioners for this sort of thing - i always assumed osteopaths would be working with the skeletal and structural problems only, but i know of one who has treated people with piriformis syndrome and runners knee very successfully.
You seem to be asking here as though you want to take advice from someone and do it yourself…? If you are not confident with the person controlling your rehab - then i would seek someone else to help your recovery.
The point is, i would go elsewhere for treatment. I don’t know your podiatrist but it is common (like many medical professions) for them to become used to treating the same old issues - in this case often back issues due to foot placement/gait - that or corns! I bet a podiatrist has 10 of each of those to every one Plantar fasciitis.
You say you have been doing all the stretching/rolling etc… but have you been REALLY working for this or just doing it 3x/wk for 5-10 mins? A year is a long time to be devoting proper rehab time to something like this and get no results… see where i am going? The thing is you need to put 100% into recovery as you would regular training - except people usually don’t.
edit
I was getting drawn into too many questions there - but the truth is without tons of questions it is impossible to give you advice. The best thing you can do is talk to someone else - one of the professionals mentioned, and go from there.
[quote] Brook wrote:
I would suggest you go to someone who is going to be able to design full rehab protocols for you - your podiatrist may not be quite as competent as some mentioned!
As i said, one of the good sports therapists would be suitable for this - when i was training we did this particular injury, and it is relatively simple - as many injuries are… but the client really needs to devote a point each day to rehab this - and not just 2-3x a week what is most common. And i dont mean some tennis ball rolling while at the PC or watching TV.
That or a chiro maybe - BBB could tell you if they deal with such things.
Osteopaths have some decent practitioners for this sort of thing - i always assumed osteopaths would be working with the skeletal and structural problems only, but i know of one who has treated people with piriformis syndrome and runners knee very successfully.
You seem to be asking here as though you want to take advice from someone and do it yourself…? If you are not confident with the person controlling your rehab - then i would seek someone else to help your recovery.
The point is, i would go elsewhere for treatment. I don’t know your podiatrist but it is common (like many medical professions) for them to become used to treating the same old issues - in this case often back issues due to foot placement/gait - that or corns! I bet a podiatrist has 10 of each of those to every one Plantar fasciitis.
You say you have been doing all the stretching/rolling etc… but have you been REALLY working for this or just doing it 3x/wk for 5-10 mins? A year is a long time to be devoting proper rehab time to something like this and get no results… see where i am going? The thing is you need to put 100% into recovery as you would regular training - except people usually don’t.
edit
I was getting drawn into too many questions there - but the truth is without tons of questions it is impossible to give you advice. The best thing you can do is talk to someone else - one of the professionals mentioned, and go from there.[/quote]
What are you talking about picking up marbles and curling towels with your feet? I’ve done that but haven’t devoted every day to it.
Excuse me?
gotta ditto what Bushy said regarding podiatrists/orthotics . my first round with PF cleared up quickly after orthotics were introduced . however , my second set of orthotics have been in place for about a month now , and I have to say that the results have not been as positive as the first time . the original inflamation site is better , but other areas of the foot hurt pretty bad now at times ; this could be my own fault though , due to waiting too long before seeking treatment .
like Brooks said , a GOOD sports therapist would probably be of value also .
ART also seems to have helped . if the pain in the other areas of the foot doesnt mello soon , I may start them up again .
I had an interesting conversation with a fella at the gym a few weeks back . he noticed the arch/ankle support I was wearing , and he mentioned that he suffered from PF years ago . he goes on to tell me that he had gone thru 4 sets of orthotics before he took up yoga . after a short time practicing yoga , his PF symptoms went away …AND HAVENT RETURNED SINCE ! even without orthotics ! so , of course I start drilling him for more info .
it turns out that his instructor told him that the toes positioning/mis-alignment can lead to a host of foot ailments , including PF . that statement causes me to remember something I had run across a while back …
http://www.yogapro.com/ts/toestretcher.html .
I remember a poster on a runner’s website that swore up and down on that product (PF is common amongst runners)
kinda makes sence…have you ever noticed how good it feels to stretch the fuck outta your toes ? right ?
that is probably the next route I’ll pursue . hell , I got close to a grand stuck into it this time , whats another 50 bucks ?
good luck
(maybe a plantar fasciatis sticky in the Over 35 Forum ? be kinda nice to get all these ideas in one place , as PF seems to be pretty common)
[quote] Brook wrote:
Excuse me?[/quote]
Those are the rehab exercises that I know of.
[quote]marlboroman wrote:
gotta ditto what Bushy said regarding podiatrists/orthotics . my first round with PF cleared up quickly after orthotics were introduced . however , my second set of orthotics have been in place for about a month now , and I have to say that the results have not been as positive as the first time . the original inflamation site is better , but other areas of the foot hurt pretty bad now at times ; this could be my own fault though , due to waiting too long before seeking treatment .
like Brooks said , a GOOD sports therapist would probably be of value also .
ART also seems to have helped . if the pain in the other areas of the foot doesnt mello soon , I may start them up again .
I had an interesting conversation with a fella at the gym a few weeks back . he noticed the arch/ankle support I was wearing , and he mentioned that he suffered from PF years ago . he goes on to tell me that he had gone thru 4 sets of orthotics before he took up yoga . after a short time practicing yoga , his PF symptoms went away …AND HAVENT RETURNED SINCE ! even without orthotics ! so , of course I start drilling him for more info .
it turns out that his instructor told him that the toes positioning/mis-alignment can lead to a host of foot ailments , including PF . that statement causes me to remember something I had run across a while back …
http://www.yogapro.com/ts/toestretcher.html .
I remember a poster on a runner’s website that swore up and down on that product (PF is common amongst runners)
kinda makes sence…have you ever noticed how good it feels to stretch the fuck outta your toes ? right ?
that is probably the next route I’ll pursue . hell , I got close to a grand stuck into it this time , whats another 50 bucks ?
good luck
(maybe a plantar fasciatis sticky in the Over 35 Forum ? be kinda nice to get all these ideas in one place , as PF seems to be pretty common)
[/quote]
Let me know how those Yoga toes work out. I was doing some yoga exercises on the wii that seemed to help but I didn’t keep it up because I couldn’t confirm they helped. Basically it was just balancing on one foot at a time.
I leave a tennis ball on the floor under my desk pretty much all the time, I only wear shoes when I have to and living in Michigan I hit the beaches as much as possible, running on the sand is great exercise, good for your feet and good for the skin on your feet as well. The problems I have with my feet anymore, are finding shoes that fit, 11w shouldn’t be that hard to find but it seems most non-specialty stores have eliminated the wide sizes, at least around here.
[quote]xvimlar wrote:
I leave a tennis ball on the floor under my desk pretty much all the time, I only wear shoes when I have to and living in Michigan I hit the beaches as much as possible, running on the sand is great exercise, good for your feet and good for the skin on your feet as well. The problems I have with my feet anymore, are finding shoes that fit, 11w shouldn’t be that hard to find but it seems most non-specialty stores have eliminated the wide sizes, at least around here.[/quote]
thats whats kinda odd about this PF crap…some guys say to walk barefoot as much as possible ; even run barefoot . during my 2 bouts , walking barefoot was a definite trigger for extreme discomfort ; running barefoot on sand or grass…hell , I doubt if I could have made 5 steps . and ladders too ; a few trips up a ladder brought on a world of hurt. some days , I couldnt even WALK more than a few steps on grass before my whole foot would cramp up , all the way up into the upper calf .
I’ll add this to this thread , and then I’ll shut the fuck up…
if someone were to ask me what my first response to PF would be…the answer would be ART
I concur with almost everyone on this thread, I have it myself, I used to make fun of professional athletes who all came up with this mysterious foot disease, well I got paid back in spades and the shit hurts, sometimes If I wake up in the middle of the night I cant even walk. I used tennis balls in the office quite a bit. I also bought some dr scholls inserts made espescially for PF, and surprisingly it worked real well.
Lots of good advice on rolling, tennis ball work and massage for treatment guys. Brook hit the nail on the head. While a forum can give you some ideas about the problem and its treatment, an experienced professional is the only way to go.
OP, if you’ve only seen one “specialist” for treatment but have spent a year in pain, I would suggest you give yourself a quick slap round the chops and then go and see someone who deals with this injury frequently.
PF can be caused by lots of different factors. If the tightness in the fascia is not relieved by direct work on it, the underlying cause is probably not there.
The alignment of the skeleton, gain, movement and even breathing patterns, the whole posterior chain, IT bands, TFLs, glutes and lats all will have an effect on the feet.
My top two recommendations would be; an Osteopath, as they deal with the whole body(not just bones!) and try to see the body as a unit or a Physio, as may have seen and successfully treated more sports people.
Find someone who regularly works with teams, sports people and average joes, as they’ll probably have the best overall skills.
I sincerely hope the next post starts;“Went to new, well qualified and experienced therapist and…”
and not anything mentioning Wii, “yoga” or foot beauty products.